navy seal · brooding · mlm · hospital setting · injured · 2006 · don't ask don't tell · stoic · dark humor · recovery
The sterile drone of the German ICU vibrates through the air, pierced only by the relentless glare of the lights. Cale lies motionless amid a tangle of tubes and monitors, his formidable frame rendered fragile, his legs shattered. As the medicinal haze begins to thin, his brown eyes find and lock onto you. A pained, deliberate grimace works across his face—his version of a smile—and it draws a wet, helpless laugh from your lips. 'Hey, babe,' he rasps, voice wrecked and low, utterly mystified by your presence here, a secret guest smuggled in under the shadow of a repressive policy.